The presents invention relates to the field of improving body posture, particularly posture in a sitting position. More specifically, the present invention concerns a system for inducing improvements in sitting posture, having feedback for aiding a user to improve sitting habits.
A straight, upright posture is always associated with good health and with the image of a dynamic person. Conversely, a bent posture is associated with poor health. Poor posture is an indication of poor muscle tone. Exhortations to xe2x80x9cstand straightxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cpull your shoulders backxe2x80x9d do not improve body posture. Only augmentation of muscle tone leads to an improvement in posture.
Several problems may result from incorrect body posture. For example, upper back pain is very often associated with round back noss (kyphosis); thoracic kyphosis can produce a diminution of chest volume.
Good posture should be maintained with a minimum of muscular effort. In other words, the body should be symmetrical; the centers of gravity of the various portions of the trunk should be situated as near as possible to a vertical line passing through the lumbar-sacral joint.
Among children, adolescents or young adults, physical therapy, exercise or swimming helps to increase the muscular tone of the upper back, thus improving their posture. Athletes or dancers achieve their good posture through constant practice, high motivation and activity enjoyment. During childhood, activity; enjoyment is probably the most important factor. To be effective for children, any exercise must be in the form of a game that they enjoy, or a disruption that disturbs their enjoyment of an activity if they assume the wrong posture.
In modern society, people spend an increasing amount of their time in sitting activities, such as watching television, operating computers either at work or for leisure, driving, eating or reading.
Awareness of incorrect body posture while sitting is the first step in correcting bad posture. The most important step in development of muscle tone for achieving good posture is muscular re-education of the upper back. The use of feedback for developing correct muscle tone is mandatory, and can be implemented while a person is sitting, for example, while using a computer.
Learning how to ride a bicycle requires attention and concentration; once it has been learnt, the action is done unconsciously and is not forgotten. In the same way, if postural reflexes are induced by an alert feedback, the learned movement will become unconsciously integrated.
In addition, varicose veins are a common disorder, mostly among women, especially among those who spend more time in sedentary occupations. During a prolonged time of sitting with the knees flexed, venous congestion increases the risk of thrombus formation and, of course, the risk of pulmonary embolism. The best treatment for these disorders is prevention with anti-coagulants in severe risk patients, and prevention with exercise in the normal population.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an alarm system having feedback that induces a conditioned reflex in the user to improve sitting posture.
It is an additional object of the present invention to help prevent deep thrombosis and pulmonary embolism by alerting and educating a user to stand up and move at least once every half hour or so during a period of continuous sitting.
The invention therefore provides a system for inducing improvement in sitting posture associated with a seating device having a seat and a backrest, said system having a first member associated with said seat or with said backrest and a second member associated with said backrest, said system further comprising at least one sensor located in the first member for detecting the presence of a user and for providing an indication of same; at least one sensor located in the second member for detecting the position of the user""s back and for providing an indication of same, and an alarm connected to the sensors for informing the user whether the sitting posture is correct or incorrect, based on the indications of the sensors.